Danes Hood (Chicago-USA)
Visited: October, 12th, 003
Being a wildlife enthu
siast,
I am always a great admirer of Indian Wildlife, and never left any
opportunity that came my way to view the majestic mammals. During one of my
official tour to India, I got a privilege to visit the Wildlife Parks in
India, and of course my first choice was Sunderbans in the eastern part of
India. That was the only way, I felt to satisfy my burning desire, of
encountering the wilds in their natural habitat.
I was quite aware of Indian wildlife, and have acquired an ample knowledge
in the recent few years, especially about the Great Indian Tigers - through
the number of wildlife programs on air and through slew of magazines. I knew
that, the Sunderbans are the home of the legendary Royal Bengal Tigers, and
it is the only place to watch these elusive creatures in their varied moods.
I was all set for a long voyage to Kolkata - the nearest airport to the
Sunderbans, lying at a distance of 166km from the city. After a day's
sojourn in the imperial city of Kolkata, I headed towards south of Kolkata
in a tourist cab for about 3 hours and finally reached my ultimate
destination - the Suderbans. A permit was required for the visit to the
Park, which I already took from the Forest Department's office at Kolkata.
I met some Indian students in the bus, en-route to Sunderbans, who were
also lovers of wildlife like me. As I started conversing with them, I came
to know that, they were the students of Wildlife Research Institute. They
were the great source of knowledge to me and told me many facts of the Royal
Bengal (Indian) Tigers. It was quite surprising for me to know, that this
gigantic beast seldom attack human beings and usually feed on other
carnivores and sometimes on small herbivores like rabbit, turtles or fish.
I was booked up with the Forest Tourist Lodge at
Sajnekhali. It was a moderate lodge with enough comfortable living. I
enjoyed a hot Indian cuisine after a warm relaxing bath. Next morning I was
all set for the estuarine Brahamaputra delta area. I could really feel the
strong magnetic power of Sunderban, the power that could baptize you in its
charm with its diversified wildlife amidst scrumptious vegetation of Sundari
trees and the saline water channels. As I progressed further for the
wildlife venture, I found the terrain adorned with marshy mangrove forest.
It was really exciting for me to know that, the main area of the wild could
only be approached by reverie waterways. I was then taken in a motor-cruiser
to explore the treasures of Sunderban, as we proceeded further in the serene
waters piercing through the Sundari trees, we encountered crocodiles,
spotted deer and water birds, peacock, falcons and shy jungle cats. It was
just magnificent to watch the flock of birds coming down to the river and
just in fraction of second they are again flying high with their prey. I
enjoyed capturing some of these incredible moments in my handy-cam.
Our cruiser continued to sail, every one was very eager to get the subtle
image of Royal Bengal Tiger. Our guide Desh Bandhu was a knowledgeable smart
guy, who was continuously giving review on the forest and its habitat, he
told us that Sunderban enjoy the population of 400 tigers in its wild.
Suddenly, to our wonderment, he shouted, "look there"! Within a
fraction of a second, all of us jumped off our seats and were ready with our
cameras and binoculars. I was amazed to watch this furious beast adorned
with yellow-orange color, almost 10 feet in length, quenching its thirst
from the tranquil waters. We all were left breathless, some were also scared
to watch the tiger from such close quarters. It was one of the most
memorable experiences of my life, and it didn't take me seconds to capture
this exquisite creation of nature into my cam.
The guide continued, "due to hunting and poaching, tiger has become
highly endangered species, the government of India has launched the 'Project
Tiger, to protect and regenerate them."
